George Orwell’s Selected Essays Cover

Here’s my cover design for the Thai translation of a collection of 22 essays by George Orwell. The book is published by Typhoon Studio this month. All essays were translated from English and French by Bancha Suwannanondha, who also translated Orwell’s Animal Farm, Burmese Days, and Down and Out in Paris and London for Typhoon Studio. Most of Orwell’s famous essays, such as “Books VS Cigarettes” and “Shooting an Elephant,” are included in the book.

The Thai title of the book is taken not from any of the essay titles but from the last sentence of “Literature and Totalitarianism,” in which Orwell writes: Whoever feels the value of literature, whoever sees the central part it plays in the development of human history, must also see the life and death necessity of resisting totalitarianism, whether it is imposed on us from without or from within. The title is “The Life and Death Necessity of Resisting Totalitarianism,” and the Thai is an almost exact translation.

I came up with two design directions for the cover and liked both. So we asked the readers to help and vote for the one they would like us to use. This is the winner.

And here is the other candidate:

The book is now available for order at Typhoon Studio Page or www.typhoonbooks.com.